Welcome to the home of the Motul Honda Cup

"If Honda does not race, there is no Honda" – Soichiro Honda

Hondas are at home on the racetrack with their sophisticated suspension and high tech motors that are delivered from the factory.

Performance and reliability is the true essence of the "Powered by Honda" legend and that is what wins races! Many people search for a place to race Hondas in a unified field and Honda Cup continues to provide this opportunity.

The Honda Cup Directors recognised the growing demand and in 2007 established the Honda Cup Race Series to provide a venue for the legions of Honda fans around the country. Some cars are modified, others less so, but the format provides great racing, strong camaraderie and a wider community that is perfect for developing a car and your driving skills.

Now in its tenth season the Motul-backed Series is acknowledged as the premier Import race Series in New Zealand and continues to attract strong grids and provide competitive and enjoyable racing for both new and experienced Honda enthusiasts.

Many of the country's top Honda Race Shops and Tuners have joined the series to support the Racers and "competition-prove" their products and skills. The battle is epic for what is the best thing in import racing. If you have a track day Honda, are building a track Honda or want to go racing in the easiest and most exciting way possible, then this is the series for you.

Join Honda Cup today – and live the dream.

10

FEB

2018

Round 3 Entry Info

The entry form for Round 3 is available to download from here. The Supplementary Regulations can be downloaded from here.

Round 1 Regs

Get your entries in and paid as soon as possible so the event organisers can do their job. Late fees do apply after November 20th.

Entry can be done online at Motorsport Entry.Click on the 2K Cup Challenge 25-26th November 2017 event.

The Technical Officers have also requested that you pay particular attention to the regulations as they pertain to tyres for Round 1 (see Technical Regulation 5.6 - Tyre Limits).

You can get four new tyres marked but if you use two of last season's tyres, they are marked as new tyresi.e. you can't use last years rear tyres and get four new fronts tyres marked. This is your opportunity to get four new tyres on your car. Contact Mark with any questions.

The Supplementary Regs for Round 1 are now available to download from here.

05

SEP

2017

Motul HONDA CUP Back Bigger Than Ever For Season 10

Honda Cup is now entering its tenth season and still the most popular Japanese one-make series, again HondaCup has secured backing from long time Series Sponsor Motul.

Motul has supported the Honda Cup since its infancy and the two brands are perfect partners both having a strong ethos for quality and an equally strong passion for motorsports. Series Director Al Stewart is delighted to secure Motul backing once again for the series. “The racers love the Motul product, it works incredibly well in our high revving, small capacity engines. Some of our drivers don’t have the luxury of big budgets but they have all learnt to rely on the Motul products, some of which is manufactured specifically for the Honda marque.

Honda Cups ethos has always been to work with Companies that offer the best and we’ll be proudly flying the Motul flag on and off the track as we look forward to another mega season of close racing and full fields.”

“We are really happy to be supporting the Motul Honda Cup Series again for the 2017 season” says Chris Walkley from Motul New Zealand. “The thing we like about Honda Cup is it is the ideal proving ground for our Motorsports and Passenger car range of lubricants. While everyone would love to run the products used by the Pro teams like our Double Ester synthetic 300V, the reality is that almost every racer has budget constraints. Our Performance Automotive range reflects the needs of both the common motorist and the racer with products such as Motul Sport synthetic Ester and the 8100 series. These products offer a less expensive alternative for racers but ensure the level of performance required by the high revving small Honda engines is still met. There aren’t many brands that can offer a lubricant that will work in both your race car and the car that tows your race car, that’s the Motul difference!”

The Motul Honda Cup is set to enjoy another high profile action packed season having been included on dates for the new Premier Motorsport Series, which includes a round with the international Toyota Race Series. This season features 5 rounds running at all North island Circuits with a mix of two and three day events. It is likely that the Honda Cup season will culminate with a non-championship one hour endurance race in addition to their five championship rounds. Last season’s Honda Cup stalwart Mark Walters secured the title and has confirmed that he will be returning to defend his title.

01

SEP

2017

Honda Cup and Honda N1 Tech Inspection

Come check out the competition and enjoy some free pizza!

Pre-season tech inspection will be from 10am to 3pm

Sunday 29th October Waikato Honda

Saturday 4th November at Jtune

An added bonus, there will be the new Type R on show at Waikato Honda and a secret project car at Jtune.

All cars must have tech inspections prior to racing so make the effort and get to one of the sessions.

01

SEP

2017

10th anniversary of Honda Cup

Well it’s the 10 year anniversary of Honda Cup and one major change this year is to retire the forum effective immediately.

The forum has been a great resource, allowing the community to come together and discuss issues of all manner. However due to the rise of Facebook, Twitter and the like usage has dwindled and now deemed superfluous.

Another upcoming change to the site will be the addition of online payments. This will enable everyone to pay their membership and entry fees online via credit/debit card.

Stay tuned for further news.

20

AUG

2017

IMPORTANT NOTICE RE TEST DAY TAUPO OCTOBER 8TH

Now is the time to get registered:

This is a great opportunity for:

Pre-season testing and practice

Bringing your sponsors along, they are able to passenger in a caged car

If you’re a newbie this season, get alongside the drivers and get good guidance and advice. Honda Cup is all about camaraderie and helping each other

If you’re thinking of going racing in a Honda, come along and we’ll convince you to

Limited numbers of cars will have 2 seats for hot laps, allocated on a first in first served on the day. No cost, no promises. You will need to sign a form for the track organisers.

There are strictly limited places available.

This event is run in conjunction with Playday On Track.

Note that this event MUST BE REGISTERED AND PAID FOR BY SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 17th 2017.

Honda Cup announces focus onN1 class for 2017

Sometimes success can create its own issues and such has been the case for the high profile NZ Motul Honda Cup.

Heading into its 10th year the intense competition and sharing of technical information has seen lap times fall considerably. What was once considered to be a “hot” time is now being matched by the top 20% of the field. This has the effect of making it more difficult for new inexperienced drivers to get results.

To ensure that Honda Cup continues to satisfy the needs of new and developing drivers and those who wish to race on a budget, Honda Cup has returned to its roots and has made the decision to focus on its modified production class based on the popular EG and EK Civic and DC2 Integra. The class is known as N1 - a name used in the popular JDM circuit series.

With strictly controlled body and engine modifications and tuning, these cars provide competitive and exciting racing. The specification list which is already popular amongst a number of Honda Cup racers has proved to be easy to drive, competitive and ultra-reliable. This is where Honda Cup started many years ago, said Honda Cup Race Director Al Stewart.

Maximum racing for minimum dollar is attractive to many and takes away the perceived advantage of a big budget. Less bling and more seat time has always been Al’s catch call and the N1 class delivers this.

An N1 car should be able to be built and go racing for under $10k. By using the deals we have negotiated for the controlled parts, an N1 car should be able to put up some very impressive lap times - plus run for 2 or 3 season without any mechanical rebuild work required. The B16A and B16C Honda engines are absolutely bullet proof and the best part is that they can be picked up for around the $200 mark and dropped straight into the car without any modifications. All cars must run on the same race tyres with a limit on the number of tyres per season. The build is simple enough for a first-time racer to complete in his garage and the series provides the correct setup to ensure new drivers are “on the pace” with a minimum of practice. There is nothing more exciting or rewarding than racing door to door in identical cars where at the end of the day the winner is determined by the best driver and team.

We have been trialing cars of this specification and it is surprising how far up the grid they can get once a driver starts to develop his or her skills. We see it as an ideal way for youngsters to start out in motorsport or transition from karting without making a big financial commitment. Many parts on the cars are controlled such as brakes, brake pads, tyres, fuel etc. This helps to control cost and level the playing field. We also see it as an ideal opportunity for tuning shops to get out there and promote themselves with a “mobile billboard”.

Currently there are 6 cars running and 5 more in the build stage along with many eligible cars currently running at club level that are eligible for the N1 Series. A number of cars are also currently available for lease on an arrive and drive basis.

20

JUN

2017

Notice of HC rule changes for 2017

The following updates will be made to the Honda Cup rules for the 2017 season:

H1 and H2 to merge to become H1 with separate minimum race weights for 0 to 1600kg and 1601 to 1800kg

H3 min race weight to increase by 10kg

Composite front doors to be disallowed for safety and cost reasons

N1 ignition free

N1 brake pads free

Dual circuit or dual master cylinders required in all cars

Jazz and Jazz engine to be added to eligible chassis/engine

Turbo chargers allowed when fitted as OEM

The Origin

In 2004 long-time Kiwi Honda enthusiast and racer Al Stewart returned from a working holiday in California. While working there for Race Team Special Projects he was lucky enough to gain a drive in one of the team Integras in two Honda Challenge rounds. The idea was implanted in his mind and on his return Al set about setting up a similar Honda Challenge series in New Zealand. To ensure the series got off the ground smoothly Al decided to run the series in conjunction with the existing SS2000 – Under 2 litre Saloon Series.

This made perfect sense. The SS2000 class was a national eight round series that was already enjoying success and had been running for many years. A set of Honda Challenge rules were drafted by Al and presented at the annual SS2000 AGM. The class was taken on board by SS2000 and 2005 saw the first season of Honda Challenge in New Zealand proudly sponsored by beer giant Carlsberg. Both SS2000 and Honda Challenge have continued to enjoy success with large grids and exciting racing.

The numbers of Hondas racing in New Zealand has continued to grow each year with Hondas now being the dominant marque in the series. The marquee has a massive following in New Zealand and has one of the biggest auto forums in the southern hemisphere, NZ Hondas.

But as they say…there is more! Al said he is constantly being asked by new racers how and where they should get started. He will often be heard talking about his early years at clubmans meetings at Manfeild in the 70's and how these were some of the best times he ever had in motorsport. This is also the view of many of the racers of that era.

The result has been the advent of a Clubman style competition for Hondas to bring back some of the fun and affordable entry level racing that is sometimes lacking into today's hectic range of summer series. A mini series to allow new Honda competitors to get out on the track and mix it with some of the more experienced drivers in a low key fun race meet is indeed the perfect step up the ladder for a growing band of talented young drivers and engineers modifying or building cars for the growing NZ track day scene. Our winter rules are simple, the racing is all held over one day and the rounds spread apart to assist the cash flow!